Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

THE ELITES

Atlan was what you would call a Rani. They were a class of special humans gifted with immense combat ability. Some special human classes made a habit of forming clans and exclusivity, although most of the other special humans neglected such restrictions. The Rani was such a class. They were found in almost every clan that had special humans. And even among the Rani class, Atlan’s combat ability was inordinately high. It was a known fact. But how he took down the Egork champions still came as a surprise. He played around most of the time. He was confident in his ability so much that he never felt like he could lose. But that move he pulled off wasn’t from someone that was joking around. In a moment, he evaded the champion’s attack, sprung on its shoulder, trapped its head between his thighs, and snapped its neck. All with his hand tied behind his back. It all happened so fast that no one could react. The Egork champion never stood a chance!

“Do you mind getting these off?” Atlan asked, gesturing to the rope that bound tightly to his hand. A deafening silence was all the response he got. Atlan helped himself to the Egork’s battle-ax. It was of no use to it anymore. With its blade, he freed himself from his b*****e. His hands were a bit sore from being bound so tightly. His well-defined muscles revealed themselves as stretched his hands. He ran his fingers through his dark full hair. It might have been longer if he didn’t cut it so often. His blue eyes shone as he turned to face the enraged Momor.

“The kid!” Atlan ordered. The tone in his voice was serious. Momor knew that making jokes at the time was dangerous, but there was no way he would allow Atlan to walk away so easily. His champion might have turned out to be disappointing but he still had hundreds of Egorks under his command. There was no way he was letting Atlan leave alive. Even if it meant him killing the hostage they held.

Momor might have thought he was biding time to catch the rest of the Elites. But he forgot one thing. They are the Elites! Atlan was the one who was biding time. Momor noticed a change in the atmosphere. The hostility felt like an army was approaching. A six-man army maybe. Momor tried to run off with the prince but fell straight to the ground. His tendons were cut off in an instant by arrows!

Although he had to heal before he could move, he knew exactly where the arrow came from. Failing to kill him in one shot was the archer’s mistake and Atlan’s as well. He would kill the prince and hunt what remained of Elites. He would not let any one of them escape. But where was the prince? Momor was left bewildered as he stared at his empty hand. The prince had been stolen from right under his nose. Damn those Elites!

The Elites housed a variety of special humans. One of them was a Jorke. Jorkes were known to be fast but not fast enough to steal the prince without Momor knowing. But the archer made it possible. He was a class of special humans known as the Hakuri. They were skilled hunters and archers. It might have looked like only a second, but it was more than that. Hakuris can control the pace of their arrows as they load them. This can make anyone misjudge the flow of time with the movement of these arrows. And by pulling his attention to his position, created enough time for Dianne, the Jorke of the Elites to make a move on the prince. She had gotten close enough already.

Atlan was making his way through the wall of Egorks that surrounded him. It was painful to watch. He wasn’t even armed and they were still no match for him. Momor charged straight at Atlan in a fit of rage. He knew that Atlan was playing the role of bait to allow the prince to escape, but he would gladly fall for it. After all, the bait was an even bigger prize than the hostage. And not just to Momor, but The Queen herself. The actions of the Elites were becoming a growing concern for them. It wasn’t big enough for her to dispatch an army to destroy them but she was monitoring their movements. She was looking forward to recruiting them instead, as unlikely as it would seem. But they answered to money. So it wasn’t a ruled-out option. And if they refused, she would wipe them off the surface of the earth with so much tenacity that no one would dare to follow in their footsteps ever.

Atlan grinned. Everything was working out so far. Momor wasn’t so weak as to lose as quickly as his champion did. His regeneration was a pain as well. But it wasn’t too much for Atlan to handle.

He maneuvered through Momor’s attack and pulled their attention away from his escaping teammates. Momor grew more enraged with every attack he missed. He knew he didn’t stand a chance against Atlan and it frustrated even more. Atlan ran through the castle as he was finally able to break free from the Egork’s circle entrapment. Momor was hot on his tail. As much as he welcomed the idea of a fight with Momor, he was on a tight schedule. Before long, he had lost them and was already on the path to meet the rest of his team.

Atlan and the elites met converged at their rendezvous point. With a few head and hand gestures, the group made way to one of the secret passages that the king had told them about. As he guessed, the Egorks hadn’t discovered it yet. And even if there was a traitor from his kingdom, which he was sure there was, they wouldn’t have known about it. The only two who knew about that passage were himself and his adviser. No one else.

Atlan gazed at the castle as they rode farther away from it. It would be fun to try and reclaim it but he doubted the king of Arbiove had enough money to pay them for it. But in the end, it was another job well done and he could have some rest. Or so he thought.